Drops of Silver
by ImSoHappyForMe
Summary: After a distant relative of Chris and Allison Argent, named Charlie, is bitten by a werewolf he is sent, by his mother, to stay in Beacon Hills and train to control the wolf inside of him. But after becoming the monster he spent years of his life hunting, Charlie no longer cares about anything...that is until he meets a boy by the name of Stiles Stilinski
1. Welcome to Beacon Hills

New town, new people, new school. This definitely wasn't going to be easy. But, if anything, at least he had family. Family that didn't want him dead.

The car breaks squealed as they pulled up outside the apartment building.

"Do you have everything?" His mother spoke so quick that he barely had time to think so just nodded in reply. "This is for the best. Just until I can get things cleared up…Until you learn to control it."

He nodded again. This time because, what else was he supposed to say.

_"Thank you for saving me from the rest of my family, who want to kill me, by abandoning me in some town in the middle of nowhere with people I haven't seen in years."?_

"Try and keep your head down, don't draw any unnecessary attention. They should be expecting you…Apartment 402."

The car door opened and he stepped out without saying a word. Walking towards the complex, bags in both hands. His mother shouting after him, before the car engine rumbled and then eventually silenced into the distance.

"I love you, Charlie!"

* * *

"He should be here any minute." She said, sitting at the table tapping her fingers on the mug wrapped in her hands.

"I shouldn't have agreed to this. This is a bad idea."

"Dad! He's your nephew. He has no where else to go, they would've killed him if he stayed. We can't turn him away…Not with what he's going through."

Chris was leaning against the wall, arms folded, eyes shifting between his daughter and the door. "So what? Because I retired from hunting, and you decided to date two, suddenly we're pro-werewolf?

"Don't call him that he gets here!" Allison scowled. "He's family. At least he's safe here."

"It's Beacon Hills, even we're not safe here." Chris turned, meeting his daughters desperate stare, she spoke without words, and Chris got the message.

_"Please?"_

He sighed heavily. "As much as I want to, what is there we can do to help him."

"We're not alone in this." Allison smiled slightly. "With Scott's help, and everyone else's, he can learn to control it."

"And what if he doesn't Allison. What if they find him. You gonna kill one member of your family for being a werewolf? Or other ones in order to protect him? Are you ready to make a choice like that?"

Allison paused and stared at her father. Her smile gone. sighing deeply she looked as if she was going to reply but just then the door knocked lightly before slowly swinging open

"Hello?" Came a voice.

A few seconds passed before a head leaned through the gap.

Charlie.

He was looking around the room before his eyes landed on Chris and Allison, staring at him.

"Oh…Good! For a minute there I, uh, thought I had the wrong one." He smiled nervously before walking into full view. It had been years since both of them had seen Charlie, and he had changed quite a bit. His hair was light brown, and messy, but a sort of styled messy, like he'd spent a few minutes on it in the mirror. He looked around 5' 11, taller than most of Allison's friends, granted not by much but there was a difference. And he had a slight muscular build, which was funny because he had the appearance of your average high school "geek", Glasses included. "Uncle Chris…Alli." He nodded at them.

"Hi, Charlie." Allison stood up and smiled but her tone sounded almost sympathetic. She wanted to move closer but found her feet rotted to the spot.

"I get it." He smiled again. "Now would be the time when I hug you but given the circumstances…You might get fleas." He joked, an attempt at humour that was met by an awkward silence. "Yeah…Mom didn't like that one either."

"You're room's down the hall to the left." Chris stated abruptly. "You can put your things in there."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Charlie stuttered, shuffling past them, awkwardly trying not to knock anything over with his bags, before disappearing into the spare room at the end of the hall.

"He seems distraught." Chris gasped sarcastically.

"Shut up." Allison scolded him. "He's obviously trying to make the best of a bad situation."

"Bad situation?"

"You know what I mean." She sighed. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

* * *

_"Why is this happening to me?"_ Was one of the thoughts constantly running through his head. _"If only I had been more careful. Taken my time. Fucking idiot!"_

He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his shaking hands as if he was waiting for it to happen, any minute now. He could feel it. Inside of him. It wasn't necessarily painful but it was always there, like an itch he couldn't scratch. It was driving him crazy.

He jumped at the sudden knocks on the door. For him they were like shotgun blasts going off in his ears.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah! Yeah, uh, come in." He yelled. Starting to take some clothes from one of his bags and filling the closet in the corner of the room.

"Hey." Allison smiled as she walked in. "How you holding up?"

"I'm…I'm good." He smiled back.

"God, it's been years." She laughed incredulous, opening her arms for a hug. "Come here."

Charlie smiled and entered her embrace. He never thought he'd get this kind of love from family again for a long time.

"How was your trip?" She smiled, pulling back for the hug.

"You mean the two thousand two hundred and twenty eight mile drive from Virginia that took thirty six hours?" Charlie groaned, proceeding to pile clothes in to the closet. "Confining."

Strike one Allison.

"Right…"

She rocked back and forth on her heels, contemplating a reply that would avoid as much awkwardness as possible.

"So…What's in the bags." She spoke again, trying to wear a reassuring smile.

"This one's clothes, obviously. That one is some of my other stuff, and that one is my hunting gear…which primary function is to kill, what is now my, entire species."

Strike two.

"Do you wanna talk about-"

"No."

Allison sighed. "Charlie…" She tried her best to come up with a helpful comment or motivational speech. Unfortunately the best thing that came to mind was "This stuff happens." Which obviously wasn't helpful at all judging by Charlie's laughter.

"Seriously?" He smiled, shaking his head. "Not to people like us, Alli."

"It's not so bad. You just have to learn to-"

"I spent the last year of my life training and hunting these things! Before that I didn't even know they existed!" Charlie snapped, with a lot more aggression than he first intended. "And now, thanks to some stupid ass move by yours truly, I am one! The family wants me dead, my mother dumped me here out of shame and I'm pretty sure I didn't pack any goddamn deodorant!" Charlie screamed, throwing his fist straight through the hardwood closet door.

Allison stood silent. She watched as Charlie took a deep breath to steady his shaking fist.

"I'm sorry." He exhaled.

"No…It's okay, I get it."

"Allison…" Chris mumbled, drawing their attention. They didn't even notice him come in. "School. You, uh, don't wanna be late for the first day back."

"Oh. Sure. Just give me a minute. Ok?" She smiled and Chris gave an understanding nod. She turned to Charlie, whose eyes were focused on the loaded gun in Chris' hand. "I'm gonna go, okay?"

"Yeah, just let me get my stuff and-"

"You're not going, Charlie." Chris interjected.

"What!? Why!?"

"You're seriously going to ask that question after what just happened in here."

"I had a moment."

"A moment?" Chris threw his head back and laughed. "You don't have moments anymore Charlie! There's only you and the wolf inside of you."

"Jesus! So I broke your closet, I'll buy you a new one!"

"You're not going to that school!"

"Enough, both of you!" Allison wedged herself between the two, turning to her father. "Our job is to protect him! He's been here all but five minutes and you've already pulled a gun on him."

"How are you going to protect him from himself? I said it before, Allison, I'll say it again, I never should have agreed to this." Chris spat. Silence fell. Charlie simply nodded and ducked his head. Chris himself may have realised he had crossed some sort of line but he was doing what he thought was right.

"Dad…" Allison broke the silence. "He's here now…And besides, I need to take him to Scott…Remember?"

Chris stared at his daughter and sighed heavily. He knew her stubbornness. Once she had made up her mind there was no changing it. "_You_ want to take him, fine. But if anything goes wrong, _you_ take care of it." He gestured to the gun in his hand. "Family or not."

* * *

The ride to school was quiet, Charlie sitting next to Allison while she was driving. Her squeezing his hand with a reassuring smile. Only really speaking when they arrived. "I'll meet you here after school, okay?"

Charlie nodded.

"Hurry up, we're late." Allison dragged Charlie through the main doors and down the empty hallways. "What's your homeroom?" She asked, stopping where two hallways meet.

"Uh…124B…I think." He stuttered. Once again drawing a smile onto Allison's face

"Perfect!" She squealed. "That's Scott and Stiles'."

"Who?"

"You'll know them when you see them. Anyway, mines is this down there," She gestured down one of the hallways, obviously it had to be the one opposite to where he was going. "But I'll catch up with you later okay?"

"Uh, sure, fine, yeah." Charlie mumbled in reply. Everybody spoke so damn quick here.

"Okay. Just remember, keep your head down and-"

"Don't draw any attention, yeah, I won't." He smiled, giving her one last hug before retreating down to his class.

Of course one of the things he must've forgotten was…He was late, which means as soon as he walked in the classroom-

"Who are you?" Came a voice, loud and sudden, drawing the attention of the whole classroom.

All he could think of saying was high-pitched. "Me?"

"No, the other kid who walked in to the middle of my classroom five minutes late." He smiled, sarcasm obviously, this guy definitely didn't look like your everyday teacher.

"I'm-" he cleared his throat, trying not to sound like a child. "I'm New."

"Ah, Crap. That's right." The teacher mumbled, studying pieces of paper on his desk,, until, eventually, picking one up and turning to the class . "Alright everybody listen up. Let's all welcome with a big…welcome or whatever, Charles Argent." He said, followed by chorus of different versions of 'Hello Charles' from the whole class. Except two boys, desks right next to each other, whose ears perked up as soon as his name was spoken. They looked almost the same. Except one was more muscular and tanned than the other

He shrugged it off before turning to the teacher. "It's Charlie, actually." He corrected.

"Well, pardon me kiddo." He said, with just as much sarcasm as last time. "Anything else you want to add? Got any middle names I should know about?" Charlie shook his head promptly. "Then just pick a damn seat, will ya."

Ignoring the urge to argue with, 'Coach Finstock' according to the name on the chalkboard, he made his way down the aisles of chairs, aiming for the empty seat at the back, trying to ignore the two boys whose eyes hadn't left him as soon, even though he was pretty sure one of them smelled him as he walked by.

He slumped into the seat and rested his head in his arms. He was so tired. Maybe Chris was right, maybe he shouldn't have come to school.

"Coach said 'Argent' , right?" The voice boomed in his ears, causing him to jump. "As in Allison Argent? Chris Argent? The werewolf hunting, maiming, and killing kind of Argents? Those Argents?"

Charlie desperately turned his head around the room, looking for the speaker, but nobody else looked fazed. Couldn't they hear this? That's when he realised. No, they couldn't…One of the few perks of being a werewolf I suppose.

"I don't know." Came another voice. "There's something else. He smells…different."

Charlie's eyes darted to all corners of the class before, eventually, landing on the source of the conversation. They two boys who had been staring at him during his introduction huddled close together, obviously attempting to whisper.

"Maybe he's got wolfs bane on him, do you feel woozy? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Stiles, it's not wolfs bane."

'Stiles?…Stiles.' He'd heard it before.

That's right, Allison had mentioned them in the corridor. Scott and Stiles. That means the other one must've been Scott.

"Well, what is it?"

"I don't know. But if he's an Argent…We know where to find out."

* * *

"You're friends with a werewolf!?" Charlie spat at Allison, after the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom he practically ran out of the class to meet Allison as she was leaving her own. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Charlie!" She snapped, before looking around and lowering her voice. "Be quiet."

"Did you know?" He spoke again, this time in a rushed whisper.

"Who did you think was going to teach you to control it?" She replied.

"You! Not some…one of those."

"I don't know if you realised, Charlie, but you are one of those now. And Scott's different! He doesn't-"

"Somebody say my name?" They both spun round to see Scott walking towards them, an enthusiastic smile on his face joined by Stiles, and someone else Charlie hadn't seen before.

"Scott!" Allison smiled, shocked by the sudden arrival. "And Isaac."

"And Stiles…Stiles too." Stiles raised his hand.

"We heard there was another Argent in town. We wanted to meet him for ourselves." Scott smiled back, shooting a hand towards Charlie. "I'm Scott."

Charlie hesitated, staring at the muscular tanned teenag-…werewolf, before throwing his own hand forward to clasp Scott's. He was greeted by a lot more pressure than anticipated, hell if he wasn't a werewolf Scott probably would've broken Charlie's hand.

"So," Stiles rubbed his hands together. "We were just wondering if Charlie here, may I call you Charlie?" He nodded at him, and Charlie nodded back. "Was…uh, like you." He smiled nervously.

"I know what he is." Scott spoke, still locking eyes with Charlie. "I wasn't sure at first, but now." He inhaled deeply through his nose. "No denying it." Charlie's breath quickened and Allison could feel her face heating up.

"What?" Stiles stepped forward.

"Scott." Allison tried to draw his attention. She didn't want everyone finding out. Not now. Not here.

"He's-"

"Nervous because he's gay!" Allison blurted out the first thing that came to mind which drew a collective 'What?' from the group, including Charlie.

"There's a scent for that?" Stiles turned to Isaac who shrugged in reply.

"It's his first day and he didn't know how people would react. It didn't go so well at his last school. It's really quite sad." Allison nodded, pouting slightly.

"Dude!" Stiles sighed sympathetically, wrapping his arm around Charlie's shoulder. "Come on there are tonnes of gay guys here… I.E Danny: Gay lacrosse player…Or Ethan: Gay lacrosse players gay boyfriend."

Charlie couldn't help but smile, mostly because Stiles had no idea what was really going on but also because, damn, he was being really supportive. Even though Charlie didn't really hide the fact he was gay, he never had. He wasn't afraid or ashamed. That's why he wasn't really mad at Allison, if the subject had come up he probably would've told everyone anyway.

Allison pulled Scott away from the group, leaving Stiles to his motivational 'coming out' speech.

"Allison, he's a werewolf." Scott whispered, looking back and forth between her and Charlie.

"I know." She replied, tone hushed like Scott's.

"You know? I thought you're family were werewolf hunters…not actual werewolves."

"That's why he's here." She sighed looking at Charlie, who was now resting against a locker, smiled stuck on his face, as Stiles was speaking while acting out some pretty unusual hand gestures. "He needs your help."

"What do you mean?"

"He was bitten 3 maybe 4 days ago. He needs to learn how to control it."

"And what? You want me to teach him?" He scoffed.

"Just a little self-control! Do you remember what it was like when you were first bitten?"

Scott didn't answer. He did remember. All the times he had woken up in the woods, thought he'd murdered someone, lied to Allison. It was one of the hardest things he ever had to deal with and wouldn't knowingly wish it upon anybody else.

He sighed heavily and nodded. "Alright, I'll do it."

Allison smiled. "Thank you…" She sighed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just…One more thing okay?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"You wouldn't mind, I don't know…" Allison shrugged nervously. "Not telling anyone."

Scott's face dropped. He was terrible at keeping secrets.

I know. Ironic, isn't it?

"What? Why?" he stuttered.

"It's just…He's not exactly ecstatic about being a werewolf and I just wanted to keep it under wraps for a while. Until he's, sort of, come to terms with it, y'know?" Allison smiled again.

Talk about puppy dog eyes.

"But Isaac's a werewolf…so he'll probably know."

"Yeah…"

"And Ethan and Aiden."

"Mm hm."

"Lydia's a Banshee, she might sense it."

"Okay."

"Kira's a Kitsune. I don't really know if she'll know."

"Got it."

"So the only person that might not actually know is…Stiles?"

"Only for a little while!"

"What's the point in keeping it from Stiles if everybody else knows?" Scott's brows furrowed.

"It's not anything against him it's just…If he doesn't need to know don't tell him. The fewer the better."

"Allison-"

"Scott please."

Scott sighed as he turned his gaze back to Charlie, still smiling as he was getting talked to death by Stiles. "If Stiles gets hurt-"

"He wont!" Allison stepped closer. "I promise. Now, just…act natural." She whispered, nudging him forward towards the group.

They rejoined the others apparently just as Stiles was finishing his speech with Charlie.

"Stiles." Scott spoke. "First period, we're gonna be late."

"Yeah buddy, just gimme a minute." He mumbled before beaming a smile back at Charlie. "Now remember. New school, new start. Be confident, okay? You are a predator."

'You don't know the half of it.'

"You are the hottest guy here." Stiles patted him reassuringly on the shoulders, before back stepping away towards his next class. He smiled, then he was gone. Isaac turned to Scott who just shook his head before descending down the corridor with Stiles.

"Was that…Was he flirting with me?" Charlie stuttered, still smiling.

"That?" Allison smiled. "That…was just Stiles."

"Is he…y'know." Charlie gestured to himself.

"Stiles?" She laughed. "No way. He's had this huge crush on Lydia since forever."

"Well does he know I'm a-"

"No."

"Oh." He mumbled. "Good."

"Oh my god! Charlie!" Allison's jaw dropped. "Do you-"

"No."

"On Stil-"

"No!" Charlie quickly interrupted. Perhaps a little too quick, he could feel the blood rushing to his face.

"Whatever you say, Charles." Allison winked, causing him to turn an even brighter shade of pink. "So," Allison nudged his elbow, smiling gleefully. "Next class, what you got?"

"Right, yeah." Charlie fumbled through his bag, pulling out the timetable of his classes. "History with Mr…Jesus that's a big word…Y-Yuki-."

"Yukimura." She sighed. "God! When we get home we seriously need to sync up our classes, I'm hardly in any of yours!"

Charlie simply placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled, much like Stiles had just done to him. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"You sure you know the way?"

"Sweetheart I'm a predator, I think I can find a stupid history class."

* * *

"You're 15 minutes late." Mr Yukimura stared at the boy, wearily walking in the door to his class.

"Yeah, sorry. I, uh, I'm new." He mumbled, nervously scratching the back of his head. This was getting to be a pretty good excuse.

"Ah, yes. Charles, right?" He smiled, standing up from his seat. "I'm Mr Yukimura, and welcome to history." He lifted his hands as if he were proudly displaying the class. Once again, all eyes on were fixed on the new kid, The three that stood out the most were Scott, Stiles, and another girl seated next to Scott. He didn't know her, but there was something different about her…something like Scott.

Seeming to have got off lightly thanks to the whole 'new kid' thing, Charlie, instead of correcting the teacher and risk angering him further by saying '_It's Charlie.'_, just nodded thankfully.

"Please have a seat. Do you have any of your books?"

He cursed internally before staring at Mr Yukimura sheepishly and shaking his head.

Mr Yukimura smiled. "That's alright. Just take a seat and we'll see if we can get you some later. Okay?"

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and wandered down the aisles of chairs, searching for an empty seat.

And found one…

…Right next to Stiles.

_'No big.'_ He thought. _' Sjust a seat.'_

But Stiles had noticed too and fired Charlie a friendly grin that made his heart skip a beat.

_'Son of a bitch.'_

Quickly making his way over to the vacant desk, avoiding Stiles' gaze as much as possible, he took his seat and, once again, nested his head in his arms.

"Now." A voice bellowed. God why did everything have to be so much louder when he was trying to relax. "Can anyone name one of the witnesses at the Salem witch trials?"

The room fell silent again, apart from the recurring boom of Mr Yukimura's voice every five seconds.

"Anybody?"

Each time was like someone banging drums inside his ears. It hurt. A lot.

"Come on! You know this."

_Shut up!_

"There were a lot of people…I'm asking for one. Just-"

"Walcott!" Charlie groaned, muffled by the jacket sleeves his face was buried in.

"I'm sorry, Mr Argent?" The voice resounded once more.

He raised his head from the desk before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, quickly putting them back on afterwards. "Mary…Walcott." He sighed. "Daughter of Captain Jonathan Walcott and his wife Mary Sibley, both of Salem. She was 17 when the allegations started in 1692. Her aunt, Mary Woodrow, wife of Samuel Sibley, was the person who showed Tituba, an alleged witch, and her husband John Indian how to bake a witch cake." The room fell silent, and Charlie felt all eyes on him. "I mean," He mumbled, growing hotter. "I think."

Mr Yukimura chuckled slightly. "Well," He smiled. "It appears someone is actually interested in my class."

Charlie slowly looked around the room. Everyone, every single person, was staring at him. Stiles, Scott, everyone. He just smiled and awkwardly waved at Mr Yukimura. "What can I say." He sighed. "The past is important."

"That it is, Mr Argent." Mr Yukimura smiled once more before turning back to the class. "Now everyone I want detailed reports about the Salem witch trials on my desk by this Friday. If you don't already have a partner I suggest you find one."

Stiles slammed his hands on his desk, drawing everyone's attention off of Charlie for once. "Dibs on the walking encyclopaedia!"

Charlie smiled, whilst fidgeting with his hands. Stiles was pretty funny - almost as funny as him - eventually he looked up to, unexpectedly, lock eyes with Stiles, who raised his eyebrows as if saying.

_"How about it?"_

Charlie's smile faded. "Me!?" He stuttered jabbing himself in the chest with his finger.

"No, Mr when-did-world-war-two-end McCall." Stiles snickered. "Yes, you!"

"Stiles-"

"Scott, please! I'm conversing. Go flirt with your girlfriend, or whatever you two are right now."

Charlie smiled again. Seriously dude, stop it. You're a fucking werewolf, you don't have time for stupid high school crushes.

"So, Charles! My boy." Stiles winked. "How about it?"

Charlie wanted to say yes so badly, but everything going on right now suggested this was the worst possible idea there was. What if he turned? What if Stiles found out? What if he killed Stiles? What if _Stiles_ killed _him_?

Okay the last one seemed pretty unlikely but he was panicking.

He tried to speak but couldn't find the words. His mouth swung open and shut, eyes blinking rapidly. Until eventually the word flew past his lips before he had a chance to stop it.

"Sure." He smirked.

_Damnit!_


	2. First Impressions

"You ready for tonight?" Allison smiled, bumping into Charlie in the corridor.

History had finished shortly after he had agreed to partner with Stiles and Mr Yukimura had written down everyone's groups.

"What?" Charlie's eyes widened. "I just agreed to it, like, 2 seconds ago. How the hell did you find out."

"What are you talking about? I'm the one who set it up."

Charlie hesitated, staring blankly at her. "I think we're talking about different things."

"I'm talking about you training with Scott tonight, what are you talking about."

Charlie groaned. "You want me to do it tonight!?"

"Do you have other plans?" Allison asked, her lips curving into a sly smirk. Charlie could tell she already had the answer. He forced a smile.

"What time am I meeting Scott?"

Allison smiled again. "Ten-thirty. Derek's loft."

"Derek? Seriously, If you keep bringing new names into the fray I'm gonna have to start taking notes."

"Aw, Charlie." She pinched his cheek before walking off. "Try and keep up."

Track next. Good. He needed it, just to blow off some steam, what with everything that was happening. As he walked into the locker rooms to join the class he was greeted with a familiar voice.

"Sit this one out, dude." Scott came strolling up to him, taking him by surprise.

"What? Why?" He mumbled, startled by the sudden approach.

"It's too dangerous for you to be out there."

"It's a run." Charlie scoffed. "I think I can handle it." He tried to walk away was forced back to the spot after Scott grabbed his arm.

"Think again."

"Let go of me."

"You're not going out there."

"Says who?" Charlie was getting angry. _Everybody seriously had to stop telling him what he could and couldn't do_. He shook free of Scott's grip and stood inches away from the boys face.

"I won't-"

"What the hell is going on!?" Scott was silenced by an unexpected third party. Coach Finstock. "McCall! Are you trying to stop Johnny from running?"

"Its Char-"

"Kid, I swear to god."

"No, coach. Just telling him to be careful. It's his first day on the track somebody could get hurt." Scott spoke, putting a certain amount of emphasis on those last words.

"Look at him!" Coach pointed a finger at Charlie. "He's not Charles Bronson! If anything he's a…Charlie Chaplin!"

"Right, coach." Scott mumbled.

"You scared he's going to tackle you, McCall?"

"No, coach."

"Scared that _'little Charlie Brown'_ is gonna show you up in front of the team?"

"No…coach I-"

"It's track! There isn't even any physical contact. You just run!"

"I know, coach! I was just-"

"Then get changed! both of you, and get your asses out there!"

Scott, finally giving up in his pursuit, sighed before walking back to join Isaac and Stiles, who were talking amongst themselves. Charlie didn't want to risk another encounter so he decided to go the opposite direction, sitting on a bench next to one of the other students.

"Don't worry about Scott." The boy next to him smiled.

Charlie smiled back, raising his shirt over his head. "He do this kind of thing a lot?"

"More times than you'd think." The boy sighed, tying his own shoelaces. "You're new, right?"

"First day actually." Charlie threw on his sweatshirt.

"Made any friends yet?" He replied.

"I'm not really sure if you could call them that but…yeah, I met a few people."

"Well, I hope you really like it here. And you can add one more friend to the list." He smiled again and stuck his hand out for Charlie to shake. "I'm Danny." Now Charlie would be lying if he said the guy wasn't attractive but he couldn't really afford to fall in love with every guy he saw. Besides, what are the chances he was actually gay anyway.

Charlie tried his best to stop smiling, really, but he couldn't. "I'm Charles. Charlie! I'm…Charlie."

Danny laughed and patted him on the back as he stood up to leave. "See you out there, Charlie."

Charlie kept his eyes on Danny as he made his way out of the changing rooms but before he left, something Charlie really wasn't expecting, happened. Danny locked hands with another guy, he looked around Danny's age.

_'It's nice that he can hold hands with his friends in public.'_

Danny proceeded to wrap his arms around the other boy.

_'Bromance, its pretty admiral.'_

Moments later the distance between them was practically non-existent, their lips locked and damn they were really going for it.

_God damnit! Fuck you Danny. He was practically tempting me! This is how Adam and Eve got fucked over._

"You can eat each others faces later." Coach Finstock yelled from the other side of the changing rooms. "You're like animals, God. Get outside."

Danny smiled and left the changing room hand in hand with, what was most likely, his boyfriend. But not before the other guy turned to Charlie and gave him, what could have been, the most intense dagger eyes in history. If looks could kill…

And not to mention the guy gave Charlie a seriously bad vibe. Seriously. Red flashing lights were going off in his head, _'spidey senses tingling'_ and all that stuff.

And all he could smell was wet dog.

But then again it was the boys locker room soooo…

"Argent! You just gonna sit there all day? Hurry up!"

"16 laps! Let's go!"

Charlie had headed outside to join the rest of the group. Coach continuously whistling at them to "fall in line." and "Lift your knees.".

About 5 minutes in and Charlie, not exactly on purpose, was running side by side with the boy from the locker room. The one that was kissing Danny. The guy must've noticed, maybe even planned it, since he was the first to speak.

"Keep your distance." He spat, breathing heavy due to the running.

"Say again?" Charlie replied, sweat materialising on his brow.

"Stop talking to Danny!" He wasn't looking at Charlie when he spoke, he had his eyes front. "You're too dangerous to be allowed anywhere near him."

'Too dangerous?' Charlie thought. 'I'm not that big?'

"Hate to break it to you, buddy." Charlie sighed. "But your boyfriend was the one who started talking to me."

"I don't care." He snapped back at him. "But if I ever catch it happening again I-"

"I get it, Arnie." Charlie cut him off. "This whole broody thing you got going on, _Conceal, don't feel_, right? Yeah, not really working for you. You don't strike me as the 'aggressor' type, so I'm just gonna give you a little bit of advice." The boy tried to speak but Charlie barely let him get a word in. "It's not your fault."

"What the hell are you talking ab-"

Charlie overtook the boy before jogging backwards to face him. "You're good enough!" He cried. "I'm sure your daddy loved you! You're going to prom. It's okay!" Charlie screamed at the top of his lungs before smiling, throwing him a wink and then sprinting ahead leaving the other boy to turn a bright shade of pink.

It wasn't long before Charlie had matched Stiles' pace. The guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"You okay?" Charlie grinned.

"Who…me?" Stiles gasped. "I'm perfect. Except for the fact I can't feel my feet." Charlie couldn't help but laugh. "So, are you…Coming over tonight? To help me study." Stiles panted.

Charlie's smile faltered slightly. "I should be free up until ten-thirty. I have, uh…" He hesitated a moment. "Yoga."

"That's cool." Stiles stopped running, clutching his knees as he tried to get his breath back. Charlie couldn't help but slow down to observe the situation.

"Stilinski! What the hell are you doing! You've only done 6 laps! Where's my other 10." Coach screamed at him from the sidelines.

"Y'know…Coach." Stiles yelled between breaths. "If you take my…rather inferior stature…and compare it to all the other six foot nothing jocks running the field. With the right equation you should be able to see that the six laps I ran are roughly equivalent to the 16 laps they ran."

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

Stiles stood up straight, breathing deeply before replying. "All these guys over here are like, what? 200 pounds? And they are chiselled death machines, 'kay? I mean seriously there leg muscles are so big that their thighs look pregnant. Now, me! I am 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, be careful when you open a window cause a gust of wind might blow me away, and I have worked my, extremely bony, butt off doing six of your little circle things. Now at my general size it is approximately the same amount as the amount you originally wanted me to run, had I been of a more appropriate stature."

Coach Finstock stood frozen on the sidelines, a look on his face that kinda looked like a mix confusion and blind fury. "Stilinski." He spoke. "I have no idea what the hell you just said…But if you don't start moving your legs like your running for your life." He moved closer, gradually becoming louder until he was eventually full on screaming in Stiles' face. "You're gonna be _running_ for your_ life_!"

"Coach-"

"Now!"

Stiles huffed and continued to run the track. He passed Charlie, who was to busy laughing to actually keep up. "Oh, shut up."

When everyone had finished, even Stiles, they all head back to the locker rooms to get changed. Charlie was later than the others at getting out since he was helping Stiles, who apparently couldn't feel his legs.

"Grow a pair." Charlie laughed, dropping Stiles down on the bench.

"Hey, I might be dying!" Stiles replied. "Do you want the last words you say to me to be rude and unhelpful."

"Whatever." Charlie snorted, untying his shoes.

"16 laps…What kind of a person makes another person run 16 laps?"

"It wasn't that bad."

"Don't give me that!" The boy groaned. "Look at you, you're hot!" Charlie's head shot up and Stiles started to stutter. "I mean y-you're not _hot_ hot, you're just hot from the run. B-but I'm not saying you were hot when you were running, I mean you probably were, but temperature-wise! Not otherwise…Not that I was insinuating otherwise to begin with I was j-"

"Stiles!" Charlie stopped him, a smile plastered on his face. "Shut up."

"Right! Right." Stiles nodded, proceeding to get changed. They sat in silence for the short time it took them to change clothes, exchanging the occasional friendly grin. Stiles finished first. "You coming or what?" He nudged him.

"Yeah, I just gotta put all this crap away first." Charlie replied. "It's fine, I'll catch you later."

"Whatever you say, Charles." Stiles smirked before heading out. "Oh, hey Aiden. You forget something, big guy?"

"Yeah, It won't take a minute."

"Cool. Later Charlie!"

Charlie had his back to the door, he had frozen in place as soon as he heard the familiar voice. "Alright…Now listen." He sighed, turning to meet him. He was right. It was the guy from the track, Dannys boyfriend. "If this is about that thing on the track, it was a-"

"Stay away from my brother." Aiden spoke over him.

"Wait…Brother?"

"And Danny."

Charlie hesitated a moment before a smile burst onto his face. "Ohhhh! You have a brother! You're twins! You meant your brother kissing Danny…Not…Not you kissing your brother." He started to laugh. "You know for a moment I, uh, thought you had a little _"Jaime and Cersei"_ thing going on, know what I'm saying?" Before he knew it Aiden had grabbed him by his shirt collar and shoved him up against the lockers. "You don't get it!" He mumbled, choked by his shirt. "It's funnier cause you're both twins."

"Shut up!" Aiden spat.

"Not a big _Throner_, huh?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Charlie was beginning to heat up.

"Guess I was right about your brother though, huh?" He gasped,. "He's not an aggressor."

"Ethan's a lover…" Aiden smirked. "I'm a fighter."

"Buddy…" Charlie started to laugh again but the smile soon fled from his face. "You're in waaaay past your depth."

Now Aiden was laughing. "Oh yeah?" He pulled Charlie forward and slammed him against the lockers again, knocking off his glasses.

Charlie's eyes forced shut, they were burning. "I need those." He gasped, breath shortening.

"When I'm done." Aiden leaned in close. "You're gonna need a neck brace "

He could feel it. His hands and mouth stung. It was like he was being pumped full of adrenaline. He felt strong. He opened his eyes and saw Aiden's smile slowly drop. Charlie growled, grabbing Aiden by his jacket and immediately throwing him into the tile wall. He roared, long and loud, It was a miracle no one heard. But the thing that really surprised him?

Was that Aiden roared back.

Recovering from the collision with the wall, Aiden bared his fangs and roared, eyes glowing bright blue.

"You're a were-" Charlie didn't really have much time to process the fact that his classmate was a werewolf before Aiden lunged straight for him and tackled him to the floor

"It must be hard for you." Aiden growled. "New school and, judging by your disgraceful fighting skills, new werewolf. Well, if it makes you feel better, you don't have to worry about that much longer." He lifted his arm in the air, claws ready. Almost instinctively, Charlie grabbed Aiden's head and repeatedly slammed it into the locker before throwing him across the room.

"You know the hardest part about joining a new school?" Charlie groaned, crawling to his feet. "Making a good first impression."

Aiden roared, spitting blood on the floor. He charged at him once again. But Charlie was ready. When Aiden swung for him he ducked under the boys arm before grabbing it, holding him in place. He extended Aiden's arm, slowly pressing his other hand down on the elbow.

"Well, here I go…Making an impression!"

"Don't!"

_SNAP!_

Aiden let out a disheartening roar that ended in, more or less, a whimper as he collapsed to the ground cradling his, now broken, arm.

Charlie, feeling confident, strong…like the alpha male, smiled at Aiden before turning to leave. He didn't get far before a hand gripped him tight on one shoulder, throwing him backwards across the room.

"Think you beat me?" Aiden screamed, marching towards him, one of his arms cradled to his chest. "Do you think you could beat me?" He landed a kick to Charlie's stomach. "I was an alpha! You're…a fucking…puppy!" He continued kicking him over and over. Charlie even thought he broke a few ribs.

Thankfully, moments later Scott ran through the door. "Aiden!" He yelled, drawing Aiden's attention, which Charlie took as the opportune moment to plant a foot to the base of Aiden's knee. Followed by another roar and spine-tingling _'SNAP'._

Crawling to his feet, Charlie cracked his neck and stumbled toward Aiden. "You were an alpha, right?" He leaned forward, not enough for Aiden to successfully head-butt him - which he tried - just enough to whisper with a rage-inducing grin "I was a hunter."

He didn't get to soak up the pain on Aiden's face before Scott had grabbed him tight and thrown him towards the door.

"What did you do?!"

"Scott-"

"You broke his leg!"

"He started it!"

Scott glanced between Charlie and Aiden. "Turn it off." He sighed. He knew what Scott meant….The wolf. Change back. But now that it came down to it.

He didn't want to.

"I said change back!"

"No."

"This isn't you and you know it!" Scott spoke, obvious anger in his tone but he was trying to reason with him. "It's your first change since it happened, isn't it? Your first full transition."

Charlie stuttered. "…No."

"Everything feels better, right? Everything's heightened. And since you were a hunter…Your hatred for werewolves has been heightened too."

"Nothing's different! Nothing's changed! You're still monsters! Rabid dogs!"

"Look at yourself, Charlie!" Scott snapped, he grabbed Charlie's face and forced it to the side. "Because you're a monster too…"

He froze, hands shaking, his whole body trembling. Over on the wall adjacent to him…was a mirror. Scott made him look. Made him see himself.

His ears were pointed, teeth sharp. His eyes…glowing yellow.

Scott spoke again, this time much softer. "Just change back."

Charlie, still staring in the mirror, tried to reply but it came out as a barely audible whisper. "I…I don't know how."

"Relax. Let it go."

"I can't."

"Trust me, come on, just breathe."

And he did. He inhaled deeply, holding it, trying to steady himself, before exhaling again.

It worked. Charlie felt it. He watched himself in the mirror as his appearance returned to normal. Earning a pat on the back from Scott. "Lesson number one." He smiled.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again, eyes darting over Scott's shoulder to where Aiden had propped himself up against the lockers.

"He'll be fine."

"I didn't mean to-"

"I know. Just forget it."

Scott smiled again, ignoring Aiden's grumbled. "I won't"

"You should go to your next class. I'll take care of Aiden."

"Actually I'm just…gonna head home." Charlie mumbled, throwing his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, okay." Scott nodded as Charlie shifted past him to collect his bag, glasses and throw an awkward smile towards Aiden. "Well, Allison told you, right? About the traini-"

"Ten-thirty, Eric's loft, got it. I'll, uh, see you there." He threw his hand up and waved before quickly exiting the locker room.

Maybe he did need Scott's help after all.


	3. Come to terms

_"It's too much. I can't handle it!"_

Charlie sat on his bed, sweating, knees at his chest, lightly banging his head against the headboard.

_"I've already hurt someone, what if it happens again?"_

"Hello?" A voice from the hallway shook him back to reality. "Who's there?"

It took him a few second to figure out who it was.

"It's just me, Uncle Chris!" He shouted through the apartment.

Moments later Chris was standing in the doorway to his bedroom. "What are you doing home? School doesn't finish for a few hours."

Charlie smiled slightly, but it wasn't a real smile, it was one of those 'Everything's bad and all I can do is smile' smiles. "You were right." He mumbled, playing idly with his fingers. "I shouldn't have gone. I should've…stayed here."

"…Did something happen?" Chris had moved to sit on the corner of the bed.

"Just making friendly with the werewolf population of Beacon Hills high." He sniffed, accompanied by another smile. "There's a lot."

Chris nodded, Charlie thought he maybe even smirked slightly. "I know what you mean." He sighed. "So…Are you just gonna study or something?"

"I think…" Charlie exhaled deeply. "I'm just gonna sit here and feel sorry for myself for a while."

Chris openly smiled this time. "Whatever you say, kid." He patted Charlie's arm before rising from the bed and heading for the door.

"Uncle Chris?" Charlie stuttered, drawing his attention once more. "Were you…Were you being serious earlier…When you said you wished you hadn't brought me in."

Chris stared at the boy who was sitting on the bed, rubbing his knees, staring at him with glassy brown eyes.

And he felt sorry for him…After all they were family. Werewolf or not.

"No, Charlie." He cleared his throat. "It was a…heated discussion. I said some things in the moment, I, uh, didn't mean any of it…"

Charlie smiled, looking down at his hands. "Thank you." He mumbled. "And I'm sorry…About the closet."

"Just as long as it wasn't the TV." Chris smiled reassuringly, throwing Charlie a small wink, before leaving the room.

* * *

He sat in bed for a good part of the morning. He watched TV, browsed the internet. Until eventually school was finished and his phone began to vibrate on the bedside table.

A text.

**-You still coming over tonight?**

-What? Who is this?

**-Jeez, how many peoples houses are you planning on visiting tonight?**

-Stiles!? How'd you get my number?

**-I asked Allison. you weren't in class, I'm trying to make sure your not gonna bail on me.**

-Stiles I don't know if I can make it tonight.

**- Whyyy?**

-I feel sick.

**-Ah, The sweet smell of truancy.**

-Shut up.

**-I get it! First day, nervous, you wanna make a good impression. You know who you didn't impress? The four other teachers whose classes you bailed on.**

-Stiles!

**-I picked you cause you're smart! I need your smarts!**

-Google it! Everybody else will.

**-Yeah but you make it sound smart, if I just copy and paste he's gonna notice.**

-I'm practically dying, seriously there's mucus and stuff.

**-I was rooting for you Charles.**

-I'm sorry?

**-If (by chance) you make a miraculous recovery, I'll be at my house, sitting alone, crying into a blank piece of paper.**

Charlie didn't reply, he just smirked and tossed his phone on the bed. He didn't want to see anyone. Not after the fight with Aiden. Not after he changed.

Charlie heard the door slam and a voice ring through the apartment. "Damnit Charlie!" Chris was gone for the night on "business" which means it had to be Allison

_'You didn't tell her what happened? Damnit Charlie!'_

"What the hell?" Allison screamed swinging open his bedroom door.

"You could've knocked."

"What happened!"

"You barged into my bedroom that's what happened. I could've had some really explicit stuff up on the computer or anything."

"I'm serious, Charlie!"

"You're right…It would probably be gay fan fiction, you'd all just think I was studying."

"Charlie!"

"Fine!" He snapped. "I got into a fight! It was very small. The end. Nothing major happened."

"You got into a fight with a werewolf!"

"Except that."

"You broke his elbow AND his knee!

"And that."

"While you were a werewolf too!"

"But!" Charlie raised a finger. "But, but, but, but, but…I won."

"Seriously?" She groaned.

"I know right?" Charlie beamed a smile. "I've never won a high school fight, it was-"

"No, Charlie! I mean are you seriously doing this?"

His smile faded. "Doing what?"

"This! Acting like everything's okay! Like your not scared, or worried, or-"

"Or a werewolf?"

Allison sighed. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"No, no! Say it like it is, Allison. I'm a werewolf!"

"Charlie-"

"I mean, hell I've been one for almost a week you'd think I'd have come to terms with it by now!"

"Stop it."

"And It's pretty goddamn ironic that I could come to terms with _who_ I am, but not _what_ I am, right?" Charlie was freaking out, laughing, running his hands through his hair, an empty smile stuck on his face. "I mean _'haha'_ jokes on me! And all the wolves are laughing their asses off! Cos think about it, I am a _werewolf-_hunter, literally!"

"Charlie!" Allison screamed, grabbing his shoulders. "Shut up!"

He stared at her. Breathing heavy. Lip quivering. He hugged her…again.

Allison didn't need to see his face to know he was crying. He gripped her tight and his shoulders were shaking.

"What's happening to me" He sniffed.

Allison rubbed his back. "Nothing, c'mon." she whispered. "You're fine."

"I'm crying. I don't cry."

Allison sighed, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse. "It's probably just your emotions being heightened by the bite." She shrugged.

"Is that even a thing?" Charlie mumbled, pulling back from her.

"Honestly…I don't know…maybe?" Allison laughed and Charlie did too. She pulled him away and smiled. "C'mon idiot."

* * *

"Do you remember?" She smiled. Both of them sat on the bed and talked, just talked, for the first time in a very long time. "Robin Hood?"

"Oh my god!" He nodded with a chuckle. "13 years old, right?" He turned to face her smiling.

"13! And we still played Robin Hood!" Allison was smiling constantly, desperately trying to hold in laughter.

"Except, you were always Robin Hood and I was one of the merry men 'cause I sucked so bad with the little plastic bow." The sound of Allison bursting into hysterics was enough to make him to do the same. He loved spending time with her. Even if it was only once in a blue moon. She's like the sister he never had. She was even the first person he ever officially came out to.

"Oh my god." She laughed, holding her sides. "You were so bad!"

"I was 13!" He started laughing "I was starting to think you were the actual Robin Hood!"

"Stop!"

"Seriously!"

They stayed there for what seemed like forever, talking about things they did in the past, catching up on what they've been doing since then. For a while he had totally forgotten about everything werewolf. But of course that was a big part of their lives too. And they both really wanted to know.

"When did you find out." He asked. Eyes shifting between Allison and the floor. "About all this."

Allison stared blankly at the wall. "About a year ago…maybe two." She sighed, recalling the moments of seeing her first werewolf, or the unorthodox training with her Dad. "I wasn't exactly eased into it."

"Tell me?…"

"My story's worse than yours, Charlie" She meekly smiled.

"I'm a werewolf hunting werewolf." Charlie grinned. "Try me."

Allison turned her eyes to Charlie. He tilted his head sideways and gave a great big smile, causing Allison to laugh.

"Fine." She giggled. "But I'll be surprised if you haven't tried to choke down some wolfsbane before I'm done."

"Exciting!"

Allison told him everything. She told him about Scott, and Derek.

Kate and Peter.

Jackson, and Gerard.

The alpha pack.

Everything werewolf, everything supernatural that had happened to her since she moved here.

"Wow…" Charlie mumbled, eyes fixed on Allison.

"Yeah."

"You're boyfriend was a werewolf and you didn't know?"

"Seriously?" Allison scoffed. "Is that all you took from that?"

"No! I heard that your dating another guy…who just so happens to _also_ be a werewolf." Charlie smiled. "You sure know how to pick 'em Allison."

"Oh, right! Coming from the guy who has a crush on _Stiles_."

"I _do not_ have a crush on…" Charlie paused. "Stiles! Crap!" He practically fell off the bed grabbing his jacket and shoes.

"Wait? Where are you going?"

"Stiles' house." He grumbled, awkwardly pulling on his sneakers. "I promised I'd help him study.

"What? I thought you weren't going?"

"I was sad." He quickly kissed Allison on the cheek. "You made me happy."

"Wait! What about your story!?" She yelled as he ran out the door.

"Rain check!"

* * *

_"Genius Charlie, reeeeaaaally goddamn smart."_

He walked idly through the freezing cold streets, huddled into his jacket. Pure darkness except the dim glow of the streetlights.

_"If you're planning on going to someone's house, you should actually find out where they live first."_

Desperately reaching into his pockets he pulled out his phone to call Allison, she would know where Stiles lived.

Wait. He had Stiles' number from earlier. Why call Allison for the address when he could call the person he was actually trying to get to.

After scrolling through his contacts, which were basically only Chris, Allison, and now Stiles and tapping a few buttons, he held the phone up to his ear and waited.

_"C'mon Stiles." _Charlie pleaded to himself.

No answer.

_"Pick up the phone!"_

Still no answer.

_"I've made a miraculous recovery just pick up…the damn…phone!"_

"Hello?"

The familiar voice flooded Charlie's ears along with an overwhelming sense of relief "Oh my god!" He cooed.

"He lives!" Stiles bellowed through the phone followed by a quick laugh.

"You answered!"

"You called."

"I was on my way to your house…before I realised I don't actually know where it is."

"Well…So much for a romantic surprise." Stiles sighed…sarcasm. It seemed to be a really recurring theme with this guy.

Fortunately Charlie himself was the most sarcastic person he knew.

"Well you haven't seen the gift." He sang.

"You got me a gift!?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

"…I just don't know why you said it then."

"Stiles, I could get mugged or something."

_"That's all if your lucky."_ Stiles mumbled, he probably didn't intend on Charlie hearing it… "Alright Argent, where are you?" He snorted through the phone.

Charlie swallowed. He realised that not only did he not know where Stiles lived…but he had gotten lost in the process of looking for him. "Uh…A street." He mumbled

"Very good! That narrows it down to Earth!"

"Shut up!"

"Just tell me what you see."

"…Streetlights."

Stiles was silent, or at least he was trying to be when he moved away from the phone and whispered. _"It's like standing on a rake." _

"Stiles…I think I'm lost." Charlie said. Not exactly scared. More interested, if anything.

"Yeah, I get it, Charlie." Stiles sighed. "I'm coming out with my jeep, just…I don't know…don't talk to strangers.

"Stiles-"

"You're lucky you're pretty."

The line went dead.

"Son of a bitch!"


	4. Study buddy

"Next time do you want me to put out an APB?" Stiles grinned. "I'm the sheriffs son, I can do that."

"Shut…up." Charlie grumbled, resting his head against the passenger side window of the jeep.

"I'm only thinking of you Charles. I mean you did get lost, a terrifying, two streets from my house."

He couldn't really argue. Five minutes after he hung up on him, Stiles' jeep rounded the corner to find Charlie in the middle of the road. Charlie could hear Stile' hysterical laughter from inside the vehicle

"I've been here a day!"

Stiles sucked his teeth "No need to get defensive, Charles"

"Oh my god, I should've stayed home." He sighed, fogging up his window.

"But you didn't." Stiles threw a quick glance toward Charlie and smiled, which must've been contagious because Charlie immediately smiled back.

"Yeah, well." He sat upright. "I wasn't about to flunk an assignment just because you can't work Google."

Stiles huffed. "I know how to use Google!" He straightened himself up. "I do it every night."

It was hard not to notice the smug tone in his voice and that's what caused a look of disgusting realisation to pawn over Charlie's face. "Jesus! Stiles!" He groaned. "Can you not?"

"Not what?" Stiles stifled a laugh.

"Not insinuate anything about you, a box of tissues and some guy on girl amateur porn."

"Two out of three." He snorted, eyes on the road.

"Yeah, well…" Charlie hesitated. "Wait, what?"

"We're here." Stiles yelled, turning off the engine as he pulled up into the driveway of his house. "Let's go specs! You're wasting time before your yoga!"

Blinking rapidly, he hopped out of the jeep following awkwardly after Stiles.

"Welcome!" Stiles dramatically swung open the door to his house, throwing both arms out as he did so. "To Casa del Stilinski!"

It was a nice house. A clean house. The hallway opened up into the living room which was also joined on to the kitchen. Pictures lined the wall following the stairs, where Stiles was headed.

"Your parents aren't home?" Charlie mumbled, eyeing the premises.

"Papa 'Sheriff' Stilinski works late practically every night"

"And your mom?" Charlie persisted.

Stiles was leaning on the railing at the stairs. "She isn't here either." He gave a short smile - well it wasn't really a smile but it was something - before continuing up the stairs.

Charlie was going to ask more questions but the tone of Stiles' voice begged him not to. Instead he just followed lazily up the stairs.

"Goggles." Stiles sang. "In here."

'Enough with the glasses jokes, jeez.'

Charlie entered Stiles' room wearily. Stiles was on the bed propped up on his elbows. Posters covered the room wall to wall, and clothes lay discarded on the floor.

Charlie nodded respectively. "I…uh…like what you've done with the place."

"I know, right?" Stiles beamed a smile. "Take a seat." He gestured to the only actual seat in the room, a wheeled desk chair by his computer.

"You trying to tell me something?" Charlie smirked, eyeing the blank, open, word document on Stiles' computer.

Stiles clasped a hand to his heart. "I wouldn't take advantage of you like that." He gasped. Sarcasm…again.

"Right." Charlie nodded.

"I just figured you don't wear those pretty glasses for nothing." Stiles grinned as Charlie threw his head back and laughed.

"Obviously." He sighed.

"Lets go! Share all your witchy goodness with me! Witch me up!"

"It's not witches in general…It's just Salem. Hell if it was witches everywhere I could go on for weeks." Charlie snorted.

"Seriously?"

"Well…Yeah."

"Tell me stuff."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, witch stuff, come on."

"Stiles, an assignment has been assigned to us. "

"For Friday! It's Monday." Stiles scoffed. "Dude, with you on my team we could do it in a day."

After a few moments thought Charlie sighed heavily, reclining as far as he could on the desk chair. "What do you want to know?"

"Something…" Stiles smirked. "Weird."

"Weird?" He chuckled. "You do realise you're asking me to tell you something weird…about witches."

"Well…As weird as it gets."

Charlie smiled and spun himself in the chair a few times. "Well…There's Russia."

"Yeahhh Russia!"

"They definitely had the most…creative witches."

"Freakin' Russia."

"They had spells for midwifery, shape-shifting, keeping your lover faithful - I know right? - and bridal customs."

"This should be…just fantastic." Stiles was now sitting cross-legged on his bed, an eager smile stuck on his face.

"I don't want to freak you out so I'm gonna start off easy." Charlie cleared his throat "Are you ready?"

"Hit me!"

He bit his lip to stifle a laugh. "Okay." He cleared his throat. "To keep men faithful, lovers would cut a ribbon…The size of his erect penis."

Stiles grimaced.

"Then after sex while he was sleeping they would cover it in his…seminal emissions."

He gagged.

"Then they would tie seven knots in it; keeping this talisman of knot magic ensures loyalty."

"Aaargh my god!" Stiles bit into his pillow. "'Ats 'isgusting." He mumbled.

"I was starting off easy." Charlie snorted.

"Easy!?"

"There's one about raw fish being doused with a brides sweat and fed to the husband."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Stiles held a fist to his mouth. "I don't want weird! Weird is too weird! God, I'm never going to Russia…Freakin' witches dude."

"Relax, there's no such thing." Charlie exhaled, trying his hardest not to laugh at Stiles' reaction to the story. "Just a bunch of bag ladies and the worlds weirdest cookbook."

"Oh, there's no such thing?" Stiles smirked raising his eyebrows.

"Nope."

"But you literally just told me about them?"

"I told you a story."

"Oh yeah? Then why were there all those witch trials."

"Because people are stupid."

"That's your defence?" Stiles scoffed.

"It's all I need. There was no actual proof. It's like the bible, just the worlds biggest game of Chinese whispers."

Stiles stood on his bed pointed a finger at Charlie and screamed, very dramatically - and not at all squeaky of course - "Blasphemy!"

"What were you an alter boy or something?" He replied with a laugh.

"Please! Have you seen 'Doubt'? I'm never going near a church again." Stiles sighed, bouncing back down to sit on his mattress "Anyway! You better watch your mouth. One minute your talking about how Jesus was really some guy with a huge ego called Javier, and the next you're getting stoned… And not the '420 Blaze it' kind."

Charlie spluttered with laughter before replying. "Do you believe in witches?"

Stiles smirked slightly. "Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised."

Charlie smiled to himself. 'Because of werewolves.'

"Do you?" Charlie was shook back to reality by Stiles' voice. "Believe in witches?

"I already said no." He sighed. "It's just poor old ladies who get blamed for everything from a boil on your nose, right up to werewolves."

Stiles' ears perked up at the word.

"What, uh…" He cleared his throat. "What do you know about werewolves?" He asked casually…or at least as casually as he could.

'Don't put your foot in it now, Charlie!'

"What is their to know?" He shrugged. "They're mythical creatures."

"Right…" Stiles nodded. "Right." He tapped his foot on the carpet and rubbed his hands down his knees. "But, surely you've heard stories." He raised his eyes to Charlie who stared back blankly"

"Sure." He said. "There's…myths."

"Tell me some." Stiles mumbled.

"I think we've had enough stories for tonight."

"No! No…Tell me, please."

Charlie stared at the boy on the bed, he was practically hanging off it trying to lean closer. He propped his chin up with his hands while his elbows were on his knees.

"I really really want to know." Stiles pleaded.

"I…guess I could tell you one."

Stiles reacted almost immediately, a smile reaching across his face. "Awesome." He cooed. "Tell me."

"It's a Greek myth, my personal favourites." Charlie smiled. "There's actually hundreds of different interpretations of it, but the one I like the most kinda goes like this." He smirked slightly when he saw Stiles, who was now leaning against his wall, pillow clutched to his chest. "It's about a man named 'Lycaon'. He was a king of Arcadia, he was actually kind of an egotistical dick but more to the point. People started to lose faith in the gods and thought that they only really owed their lives to Prometheus, so they stopped praying. But Lycaon…he wanted to challenge the gods divinity. So he invited Zeus to a feast at his palace, and since Zeus was the one that created man, Lycaon thought it would be funny to kill, cook, and serve him a human being…But as soon as the meal was placed in front of him Zeus knew what he had done…and he was furious. He overturned the table and destroyed the palace with his great lightning bolts. But Lycaon's punishment was to be far more sever." Charlie sighed, he glanced at Stiles, whose eyes were fixed on him, causing him to smile.

"Keep going! Keep going!" Stiles whispered ushering him on.

Charlie smiled again. "The price of Lycaon's vanity was that he was to be turned into a wolf, him and all 50 of his sons. And he was to be hunted day and night by Zeus' daughter, Artemis. But Lycaon, even now, wanted to challenge the gods. He seen this as an opportunity. After Artemis had hunted him for several days she finally had him cornered…and they fought." Charlie was almost certain he heard Stiles let out a tiny gasp, which was fucking adorable by the way. "Artemis fought with her bow and arrows while Lycaon fought with his strength…Artemis won."

Stiles exhaled and Charlie smiled…again.

"She shot him through the heart with one of her silver arrows, and he was dead. But in the short time he had lived, Lycaon and his sons created other werewolves by biting innocents and giving them the curse as well. And it's said that, deep in the wood, Lycaon still lives with other werewolves by his side, while Artemis hunts them down with her own pack…her hunters."

Stiles couldn't help but smile. He let out an exasperated gasp and laughed. "Dude you should do audiobooks or something, jeez…You get all that from books?"

"No, actually…" Charlie smiled, looking idly at the floor. "It was my bedtime story…My grandpa Gerard would always say it to me every night…I probably ad-libbed a few parts though. He could always do it so much better." He laughed slightly. "He would always make me cheer when Artemis killed Lycaon…the first Lycanthrope. I'm sure you can guess where the word comes from."

Stiles' smile faded. "That's…" He paused.

'Probably looking for a way to talk to me without bringing up the fact that my grandfather was a psychopath that beat him mercilessly.'

"Really cool." He sighed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them really knowing where to steer the conversation. Seeing as studying - the actual reason Charlie came over - seemed like a cruel joke.

During the brief silence though, something happened. Charlie didn't expect it but Stiles' eyes connected with his own. They sat still, silence continued to fill the room but their gaze remained and Charlie felt a sudden warmth flow through him. Stiles' face didn't show any clear signs of emotion, though must've noticed he was staring as he began to shake himself out of it, speaking before Charlie had the chance. "Dude, don't you have yoga?"

Charlie hesitated. "Yoga? Wha-" Cue sudden realisation. "Oh! Yoga! Right, yeah." He stuttered. "But it's not till ten thir-" He wheeled around to the digital clock on Stiles' desk and fell silent.

_10:26 pm_

"Aw mother f-" Charlie grabbed his coat and ran out the room. "I'll, uh, talk to you later!" He said, running out the door.

He heard Stiles laughing as he left. "You sure you know the way?" He called after him.

"Shut up!" He yelled back as he rushed through the hallway, smile stuck on his face. But as he was leaving his ears perked up and he was certain…he heard a disappointed sigh come from Stiles' room.


End file.
